Tip Leads To Robbery Arrests

March 12, 1988

LEESBURG — Two men were arrested Friday on charges they raided a Leesburg couple's home in December and robbed them at gunpoint.

A third man, in jail since late January on unrelated charges, also was involved in the robbery. He gave police information linking the robbery to the two men arrested Friday, and he has agreed to testify against them in court, arrest records say.

Each is charged with armed robbery and armed burglary of an occupied dwelling. They were held in the Lake County jail on $35,000 bail each.

The third suspect was identified as Sylvester Lee Thompson, 21, also of 2311 Griffin Road. Police say he is the brother of James Edward Thompson. Sylvester Thompson is being held on charges of carrying a concealed firearm, possession of a firearm by a felon, grand theft and arson.

All three are accused of ripping through a patio screen at the home of Robert and Idamae Gicker on Dec. 28. Robert Gicker, 64, was forced into a bedroom at gunpoint and had his hands bound with a telephone cord, police said, while his 57-year-old wife was forced to sit on the floor.

The couple was unharmed, but the robbers ransacked the house and made off with about $1,150 in cash, jewelry and other valuables.

According to police records, only one of the robbers had a gun. That person was identified as Bryant, the records say.